The forgotten godfathers of black American sport

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN

Updated 1:57 PM ET, Fri February 22, 2013

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Race on the track – The first professional black American athletes were jockeys, who dominated the sport until the early 20th Century. Jimmy Winkfield (pictured) was the last black rider to win the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Early champions – Winkfield rides to victory in the 1902 Derby. "He was the LeBron James of his time. Not only was he fabulously talented, he transcended the sports pages to the celebrity pages," author Joe Drape said.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Derby domination – When the country's most prestigious horse race, the Kentucky Derby, launched in 1875, 13 of the 15 jockeys competing were African American. William Walker (pictured) was one of the first to take the trophy in 1877.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Millionaire in the making – Isaac Murphy was the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derbies -- in 1884, 1890, 1891 -- and the first millionaire black athlete. "They came at a time when blacks were invisible," Drape added.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Young guns – Alonzo Clayton is the youngest jockey ever to win the Kentucky Derby, taking the race in 1892 at just 15-years-old. However, increasing racism on the track cut short his budding career.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Slaves to stars – James Perkins won the Kentucky Derby in 1895. Many riders began their careers as slaves who were forced to compete in informal -- and dangerous -- races.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Segregation woes – The introduction of the Jim Crow laws in the late 1880s -- segregating blacks and whites -- spelled an end to the golden era of jockeys like Willie Simms (pictured) who won the Kentucky Derby in 1896.

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Photos:The first black U.S. sports stars

Today's heros – Just a handful of black jockeys compete today, including Deshawn Parker, ranked 54th in the all-time jockey standings. "It's not a white man's sport anymore -- the minority Latinos really own it as jockeys," he said.

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Much like the NBA today, black athletes dominated horse racing for the next three decades, winning 15 of the first 28 Derbies.

"They were the premier horsemen in the world," says Joe Drape, author of "Black Maestro," which tells the story of champion jockey Jimmy Winkfield.

"It was the first professional sport for black athletes in America. They were at the forefront of horse racing and it was a place where they could earn a good living."

Decades before Jackie Robinson made history in 1947 as the first black major league baseball player, African American jockeys forged a name as the first sports heroes of post-Civil War America.

The son of a former slave, Isaac Murphy was the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derbies -- in 1884, 1890, 1891. He went on to win an unheard-of 44% of all his competitions, becoming the first rider inducted into the National Racing Hall of fame.

"Murphy was the first millionaire black athlete," Drape told CNN. "He even had a white valet."

Many of these jockeys had been slaves in the South, working as stable hands and becoming skilled horse handlers.

Plantation owners put them on the backs of horses in informal -- and dangerous -- competitions. When horse racing became an organized sport in the early 19th-Century, black jockeys were already leaders in the saddle.

Yet fast forward to today and you'd struggle to find an African-American jockey on a U.S. race track.